Again and Again
by ayePercabeth
Summary: The next summer after the war with Gaea, everyone's gathered at Camp Half-Blood including the gang from Camp Jupiter. Chiron put together the Demigod Trials, a series of challenges for all the campers to come out and compete in. But what happens when Percy and Annabeth find something strange (and terrifying) during one of the competitions? PERCABETH
1. chapter 1

**_Originally posted on Wattpad: FangirlsOfOlympus (I have more chapters posted there as well)_**

 **(A/N: This is Annabeth's POV and takes place a bit before the 4th of July also here are some key things** **you should know: Calypso and Leo aren't a thing- I didn't feel like dealing with the whole fiasco and then adding Calypso into the equation. Piper left Camp Half-Blood and went to Camp Jupiter with Jason (along with Hazel and Frank). Will and Nico are kinda on a vacation around the world right now too so you won't be seeing much of them, but they will eventually come up. Also, Percy and Annabeth teach classes n stuff now bc they've graduated high school)**

 **Saturday**

My eyes fluttered slowly as I woke up. I looked over at the clock: 6:43 am. Yet another night of not enough sleep. Ever since Tartarus, I had the tendency to wake up in shorter hours, although these past few months have been better, thank gods.

I looked over to my right to find my boyfriend still drooling throughout his slumber. Chiron eventually gave up on throwing me out of Percy's cabin. I think he finally understood that I felt safe with Percy far more than anywhere else. Also knowing our previous... circumstances... he decided it was probably for the best.

I tried going back to sleep, but no matter what I did, I was _not_ getting anymore sleep. I didn't want to wake Percy up, but I really wanted some company.

"Hey," I whispered, lightly shaking the son of Poseidon. He didn't budge.

"Hey!" I shook him harder. Not a single movement. I rolled my eyes and sat up more.

Grabbing both of his sides, I shook him with even more force and yelled, "Wake up!"

His eyes shot open right before he said a very confused, "What?!"

"Hi," I smiled.

Percy was still trying to recover from his sleep. His eyes hung low as he asked, "Why'd you wake me up?"

"I couldn't fall back asleep."

His eyebrows scrunched together. "You woke up too early, _again_?"

I nodded in reply. "I just really wanted some company. Plus I never wake you up so I figured you wouldn't be _too_ annoyed," I teased.

He gave me a warm smile before throwing the sheets off of him (and me) and walked over to his dresser (not sure how he could get out of bed so easily). And gods, I know he doesn't even try but he looks so _gorgeous_. How'd I get lucky with _that_ face and _that_ body and just... _Percy_?

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying not to linger too much on those muscles. I know I've seen him shirtless thousands of times before but it still wasn't easy to ignore.

"We're going to the lake," he replied, digging through his drawers.

"We are?" I asked. "At 7 in the morning?"

He found a Camp shirt and threw it on. "Yep. We haven't been in a while."

"Well... I thought we could just sit here and talk for a bit." Although the lake does seem nice right now. I just don't wanna get out of bed and get dressed.

Percy groaned in annoyance.

I scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"Annabeth, pleeeeaaaasssse. You're the one that woke me up." Touché.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But I'm not getting in the water- My hair's already a mess." He just laughed and said, "Okay."

I got up out of bed and went over to the corner of his cabin where I kept all my stuff since I basically lived here now. It didn't take me long to find an orange Camp shirt and a pair of jean shorts.

One other reason why I highly prefer to stay in Percy's cabin: I can change my clothes without having to hide in the corner. Being in Tartarus meant we had to do things past our comfort, including exposing ourselves for various reasons I _don't_ want to go over. So with that said, I comfortably took off my pajama tank top and began hooking my bra on right before throwing on my tshirt. I quickly changed into my shorts and joined Percy at the door.

Soon after a lot of walking (and laughing), we finally made it to the lake. I sat down at the end of the dock, letting my feet dip into the water. I felt the wind gracefully flowing through my hair, reminding me that I forgot to pull it up into a ponytail. I began reaching for my hair tie on my wrist right when Percy's hand stopped me.

"Don't. You look like a goddess right now."

I gave him a teasing look, almost laughing. Why does he always have to say the cheesiest things?

"I mean it!" He protested. "You _always_ look like a goddess when the wind blows your hair like that."

I couldn't help but smile. Sure he wasn't smooth with his compliments, but he somehow always knew exactly what to say to make my heart melt.

We shared a long moment of just gazing at each other while swinging our feet through the water. Everything was so peaceful; The way the sun rise was sparkling on the lake, the breeze through the trees, and the way Percy still held onto my hand. _Bliss_.

I leaned my head onto his shoulder and took a deep breath as I stared at the beautiful sun rise. "Thanks for dragging me out here," I said playfully, although I truly meant it.

"No problem, Wise Girl. We need to go to the lake more often."

"Yeah, we do. But it definitely doesn't beat the beach." I smiled just thinking about the sand and the waves.

"Nope," Percy agreed with a grin. "But then again, _nothing_ beats the beach."

I couldn't agree more.

Percy joined me at the Athena table after grabbing his breakfast. (Camp also extended dining rules: You were only restricted to your cabin's table at dinner.) He had pancakes and waffles placed sloppily all over his plate, as usual.

"So Jason texted me like a minute ago that he, Piper, Frank, and Hazel, oh and Reyna, are about to board the plane so they'll be arriving here sometime tonight," Percy informed. (Another cool thing that's happened since last summer: The Hephaestus kids finally built some cell phones for us demigods to use.)

Speaking of Hephaestus kids, Leo came skipping over to join us among others. "Hey guys!" he said joyfully. "You got the text from Jason, right?" he asked Percy. Percy nodded.

I continued eating my cereal as the two boys caught up. Percy and Leo have definitely grown much closer than what they used to be. I only spoke in their conversation a little, until Leo approached me with a question.

"Hey, Annabeth, you know Emma, right?" Leo asked. Emma, daughter of Iris, was a new friend of mine.

"Yeah, why?"

"I was thinking... About asking her to the 4th of July fireworks. I was hoping maybe you could put in a good word for me," he replied with a wink at the end.

"Oh. Well that's not for another 16 days." To be precise.

"I know but... Just... Yesterday I met her at the rock climbing wall and just... _Wow_." He stares of into space, clearly reminiscing the moment.

"Wait, y'all just met yesterday?"

"Yeah... But Annabeth there was _something_! I could feel it!"

"Yeah and you ' _felt something'_ with that girl at the mall last week."

Leo groaned in exasperation. "Annabeth, _please_. This was different!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay. I'll see if I can slip something in. But you've got to talk to her before asking. Ya know, get to know her."

"Why wait?" Percy jumped in. "Just ask her right now!" I slapped his arm. "What?!" he exclaimed rubbing his arm.

"Girls like to actually _know_ the guy first. And I would know. I'm a _girl_." The two boys just rolled their eyes and continued to talk about other stuff.

The two were soon laughing over something else completely different about what a Hephaestus kid named Brandon did this morning (something about a hammer, tripping over wire, and falling and landing on said hammer in a very... _uncomfortable_ way...) when Chiron stood at the front of the pavilion to get everyone's attention. Silence trickled throughout the area.

"Good morning, campers!" he announced gleefully.

"Lord Dionysus and I have something very exciting to announce!" Chiron had his arm around Dionysus, I guess trying to portray that they did this as a team. But the look on Dionysus' face says much otherwise.

"This year, we will be starting..." he began, in a very dramatic tone. "The Demigod Trials!" He threw his arms up in exclamation as a huge banner rolled down from the ceiling.

Campers were cheering nonstop, and they didn't even know what it was. Heck, I had no clue what Chiron and (supposedly) Dionysus were trying to pull here- but that didn't stop me from staring at the forest green banner in awe. The way the gold accents were etched around the edges and created an outline of two swords crossing each other was just breathtaking. Every detail was vividly popping at my eyes. I wondered who spent all that time making it.

And just as if a gate was thrusted open, memories of Arachne came flooding into my head. All the beautiful tapestries, but one brooding, hideous, _terrifying_ spider. I remember how it felt with her breathing down my neck as I tried furiously to outsmart her and take the statue in honor of my mother. Gods... I swear I felt the blood from my face rush down to my feet in this very moment. I stood up from my seat and swallowed a lump in my throat.

"I'm going to the restroom," I blatantly informed Percy and Leo, turning away before anyone could respond.

All of Chiron's cheerful announcements were drowned out by the raspy voice of Arachne as I walked briskly to the Camp bathrooms. As soon as I entered, I slumped back against the door and breathed out. I focused on my breathing but that didn't stop tears from slipping out of my eyes. I can't believe this is happening. I thought I was over this whole mess... At least for the most part.

Annabeth Chase _does not_ break down. Especially not in public. I concentrated hard on not letting anymore tears fall; I hated looking like I was crying- it shows weakness. I stood from the filthy bathroom floor and gathered myself. I looked in the mirror... I looked fine. Normal. A little shaken up maybe, but nothing too noticeable. As I was dabbing away wet patches on my cheeks with a paper towel, I heard knocking coming from the door- I should've expected it.

"Annabeth?" Percy called. "Are you okay?"

I sniffled one more time before answering. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, just give me a sec."

"Okay."

Walking out the door, I saw Percy leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. As soon as he saw me, he practically raced over, even though I was only a couple feet away.

"Annabeth! What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. I should've known that he'd see right through me.

"Percy, it's fine," I reassured him.

"No, it's not," he argued. "Your face is pale, and your eyes look... I don't know... _off_." Okay, good, he couldn't see I was crying.

"And are those streaks of tears?!" he continued. Never mind.

"Percy, really, it's just-"

He took hold of my shoulders and looked straight in the eye. "Annabeth... please, just tell me what's wrong. I want to help."

I sighed. Of course I gave in. "It's just... That tapestry that fell from the ceiling in the dining pavilion? Well, Arachne had... a _lot_ of tapestries," I explained in a quiet voice.

Percy looked at me with that pure sympathy he's always had. He moved his hands from my shoulders and pulled me in for a tight hug, holding the back of my head as I took in his comfort. He didn't say anything- He knew that there was nothing he could say to make it better.

Being in Percy's embrace was definitely the most relaxing thing to me. "Thank you," I mumbled into the crook of his neck after about a minute.

He pulled back and held my face in his hands. "You know I'd do _anything_ , for my Wise Girl," he grinned at his last words, lightening up the mood. I mirrored the smile. His lips came in contact with my forehead before he grabbed my hand and started leading me towards the pavilion again.

"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked. I nodded.

I pinned the flyer to Percy's cork-board above his desk. It read:

 ** _The Demigod Trials_**

 _This week, we will be holding a series of challenges for all ages to compete!_

 _Begins this coming Monday_

 _Rules:_

 _1\. Teams of 3-5_

 _2\. Teams must be of consisted of different cabins_

 _3\. Absolutely no sabotage will be tolerated. See Chiron for in-depth details of "sabotage"_

 _Schedule:_

 _Monday: Pegasus Relay_

 _Tuesday: Archery_

 _Wednesday: Rock Climbing_

 _Thursday: Sparring (weapon of any choice)_

 _Friday: Capture the Flag_

 _ **Hope to see you there!**_

I made sure to grab a flyer since I missed all of Chiron's announcements due to the... incident. Lunch had already passed and Percy was busy teaching his sword fighting class. I taught a Greek Language class, which didn't start for another twenty minutes.

I suddenly heard a knocking at my- _Percy's_ \- door. I walked over to open it only to reveal my friend Emma, daughter of Iris (the one Leo has the hots for). We started getting to know each other during both our morning jogs (we had the same route). She had caramel waves for hair, and her eyes were constantly changing color, much like Piper's. She was a pure sweetheart, but definitely a badass under everything.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hi," I smiled back. "Come in."

She stepped inside and sat on the bed with her legs crossed; This isn't the first time we've hung out together. I definitely loved having another girl friend; Since Piper left, it was only me- Not to mention that Thalia could almost never visit.

"So what's up?" I asked.

"Well I wanted to ask you something... You know Leo right?"

 _Oh shoot_ , I thought. "Yeah, why?"

"Well... Ugh I really hate admitting this... But yesterday we started talking at the rock climbing wall... And I think... I think there might've been something between us."

A girl actually... _likes Leo back_?! My mouth involuntarily gaped open.

"What?" she asked worried with her eyes wide.

I tried stifling my laugh- I didn't do too well. "I'm sorry it's just- This morning... Leo said the same thing about you. Well besides the part that he hated to admit it."

She gasped. "Really?! Oh gods, that's so relieving," she said slumping back in relief. "I'm still kinda disappointed in myself for feeling something towards him, though."

I laughed. "Don't be. He's not as bad as many people are lead to believe." There. Good word put in. Emma smiled warmly.

"Well I guess I don't have to ask you to talk to him for me or anything anymore," she teased.

Soon we were catching up and talking about all sorts of stuff before realizing I was late to my class. _Shoot_.

I had to cut Emma off mid-sentence. "I'm so sorry, but I'm late for my class!" She nodded understandably and raced after the door right behind me.

Dinner was really boring (as usual), since none of my siblings and I are actually good friends.

I went back to Cabin 3 after dinner and began working some more on an Olympus project I started not too long ago on my new laptop. It was starting to get late and I was wondering where Percy was, and where our friends from Camp Jupiter were too.

And as if on cue, Percy walked through the door.

"Hey," he said casually, with his usual mischievous grin that _always_ got me.

I raised my eyebrow. "Where were you?"

"Did some late night sparring with that Ares kid Jonathon. He thought he could beat me," he gloated. Percy just _loved_ being a show off when it came to his sword skills.

I rolled my eyes for what seemed like the 20th time today. "So I'm guessing you won?"

His grin stretched even wider. Yep.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." He began walking to his dresser to grab clothes for after his shower and I couldn't explain it but... I just wanted to get up and kiss him. Even while he's all sweaty.

So I got up and turned around to find Percy rummaging through his stuff. I walked over to him.

"Hm?" He asked, probably wondering if I needed to steal a hoodie or something.

"I was just thinking about it... And I realized that we haven't had much time together lately."

Percy scrunched his bushy eyebrows together. "What do you mean? We just went to the lake this morning _and_ we go to bed together every night."

"I know, but..." I stepped closer to him and started running my hands up his sides, looking up at him.

" _Oh_..." He finally caught on.

I reached up and connected my lips to his. He instantly kissed me back with just as much passion. I felt his hands grab hold around my waist as he pulled me even closer. One of my hands ran through his hair while the other held his face as he continued to deepen our kiss.

Soon our kiss got hotter and messier with our mouths and tongues sloppily connecting, as Percy started pushing us away from his dresser. My shirt was ripped off and thrown to who knows where, revealing my scarlet lacy bra. Percy finally pushed us up against his desk and lifted me up and onto it, never breaking our kiss. Gods this felt _so good_.

Soon his shirt was off too, and his hands were constantly racing all over my body, igniting every part of my skin. His lips glided their way from mine, and latched onto my neck. My hands were still running through his jet black hair. He knew _just_ where to go to drive me insane, and it didn't help that his hands were tracing my thighs. Percy sucked harder on the spot and a longing moan escaped my lips. He moved all over my neck, leaving me sitting there like a groaning mess.

"Oh my-... _fuck_..." I breathed out as his lips soon started trailing downwards to my chest.

Before Percy and I could do anything about it, the door swung up revealing our friends shouting, "We're here!" All smiles until they saw just what Percy and I were doing. I don't think I've ever been so disappointed to see my friends- I could say the same for Percy, judging by the face he made when he whipped his head around in confusion.

Leo came up from the back of the crowd and gulped. "I told them to knock..."

 **A/N: Hey! I know that this chapter was kinda all over the place but usually my first chapters are that way just to get my stories off the ground. Some promising chapters are soon to come! Also, please feel free to tell me all of your thoughts on the story!**


	2. Chapter Two

The shock across my face was immediately replaced with embarrassment. I snatched the nearest random shirt from the floor and covered myself. Percy just stood there, still in pure shock.

Everyone's face was flustered and frozen in their reactions.

But Piper broke the silence. "Okay but what's new? We should've all expected this."

That remark definitely lifted my spirit and a small smile formed on my lips, along with Percy's. Soon everyone was just laughing whole-heartedly. I quickly threw on the shirt that was covering me (finding out it was Percy's Spiderman shirt) and ran over to hug all my friends.

Gods I missed them so much.

 **Sunday**

Sunday went by with a breeze. We all spent our time catching up with each other and everyone's life.

Reyna had actually met someone- her name was Vanessa. Apparently they've grown really close and are planning on moving in together soon. **(A/N: We all know Reyna's lesbian lmao)**

Piper initially had a hard time adjusting to living as a Roman and constantly being called a Daughter of Venus rather than Aphrodite, but now she fits in perfectly along with Jason. Speaking of, everyone's cheerfully welcomed him back to camp and is currently a retired praetor.

Frank's doing amazing as praetor alongside Reyna, plus he and Hazel are definitely a lot closer. Everyone practically worships Hazel in Camp Jupiter now, since she can control Mist, lift gems, has tamed an untamable horse, and all sorts of other shit that's worth worshipping.

Percy, Leo, and I all informed the other five about the upcoming Demigod Trials. Soon after, we all agreed on our own teams: _Girls vs. Guys_.

Piper, Reyna, Hazel, and I were so gonna kick their butts.

 **Monday : Pegasus Relay**

Yawning, I rose from my slumber and sat up in my bed. I looked over and noticed Percy already awake. I was awake before Percy? I guess falling asleep knowing the girls and I were gonna crush the boys gave me a source of relaxation so I could sleep peacefully.

"Hey, Sleepyhead," he greeted. He leaned over to kiss me but I dodged it. He gave me a confused look.

"Can't kiss the enemy," I said matter-of-factly.

"What?!"

"Yeah. It just wouldn't be right if we kissed."

"That's so unnecessary."

I scoffed. "That _attitude_ is unnecessary."

He glared at me and I glared back.

"How about we're allowed to be a couple at night, after the games."

"What?! How will that change anything?"

"Uh, I'll get to kiss you."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But as soon as it hits morning-"

"Yes. I got it. _Owl Head_." Oh, two can play at that game.

 _"Kelp Face_."

This week is gonna be so fun. Arguing with Percy is my specialty. (And winning.)

Percy and I spent the entire day apart, which felt so odd for me, since we're always hanging out around Camp. But today (and for the rest of this week), I hung out with Piper, Hazel, and Reyna. I missed them so much.

The Pegasus Relay started about an hour after dinner, so we had almost all day to prepare.

After all the campers sat down at their respective tables during dinner, Chiron stepped up to the front.

"Good evening!" he greeted. "As you all know, The Demigod Trials begin tonight!"

The entire pavilion cheered so loud, I could've sworn I felt the building shake. But, I obviously joined in on the cheering. I peered across the way and spotted my boyfriend giving me a mischievous look, so I mirrored it. He was _so_ going down.

Everyone eventually quieted down, allowing Chiron to continue. "After dinner, you all must report to the Pegasus Stables. Don't be there _any_ later than 7:15! Teams must be there altogether or you will not be allowed to compete."

I caught Piper looking back at me from the Aphrodite table, and we gave each other knowing looks. I searched for Reyna at the Hermes table (she had to stay there since there were no Bellona cabins) and gave her the same look I just gave Piper. Reyna was the best pegasus rider out of all of us, and Hazel a close second. Not to mention that Piper and I were still decent riders.

I looked around me and saw all my siblings trying to quickly finish their meals so they could get to the stables early, which was exactly my plan. Everyone wanted to get the best riding gear first, and first pick of Pegasi if you didn't have your own personal one. But I finished before all of them anyways.

I practically ran back to Percy's cabin and changed into more suitable riding attire, as well as fixing my messy ponytail. Leaving Cabin 3, I saw almost all my siblings flocking towards Cabin 6 to do exactly what I had just finished.

Off in the distance, I spotted Hazel leaving Cabin 13. Reyna and Piper were running together from the pavilion and towards their respective cabins.

I made way to the Stables and saw a bunch of Pegasi already lined, waiting to be saddled. I spotted the gray pegasus I rode during the Battle of Manhattan, Blackjack's companion, Porkpie. I grabbed the best riding gear (enough for me and my team) and put on what I needed. I saddled up Porkpie and stood by him as a bunch of other demigods were flooding in every now and then.

Piper chose a spotted caramel pegasus named Jasmine- I recommended her. Hazel took another gray one, but this one had more white all over him (Jonah), while Reyna had a chocolate pegasus (Rose). Chiron had directed the four of us to be lined up in lane 4. The track surrounded all of Camp Half-Blood- it was a bunch of rope being held in the air by the Pegasi that weren't being rode. Hazel was first, then Piper, then me, and finally Reyna.

I looked over to my left and saw the boys all lined up in lane 3. I noticed Percy was on Blackjack (of course) and was the last guy in the lineup- the anchor. In front of him was Jason on Tempest, then Frank, and then Leo.

Leo looked over at all of us. "Wait... Y'all still showed up?" he asked with a sharp edge of confidence.

I glared at him and he immediately backed down.

"Seeing as though we have highly skilled riders on our team, we figured we had a rather high chance of winning," Reyna stated, with a twinge of sarcasm.

Percy snorted. "Yeah, okay. I've been riding this pegasus ever since I was thirteen."

I gave him a face. "Just because you've been riding him for a while doesn't mean you're good."

He rolled his eyes. I noticed Frank being quiet during this dispute. Smart guy.

Hazel stepped in. "Y'all don't have to keep making up excuses for yourselves. Our team is better than your's and you know it."

All of us went "Oooh", including Leo for some reason.

Hazel winked at Frank.

"We also got Jason and Tempest too, so," Percy added. Jason was smirking.

Now it was Piper's turn to roll her eyes. "I'm surprised you even figured out how to get him here. You know-"

Piper's statements were cut off by the familiar booming voice of Chiron.

"Alright, Campers! Let's get this show on the road!"

A harpy came by and handed every first person in each team a baton to handoff. Every 3rd and 4th person were scooched over to the side so the first could easily handoff to the second after making a full lap. After the first handoff, I would be stepping back onto the track.

Chiron's voice came back. "You know the rules! No dropping the baton or you're disqualified. No swerving into other lanes or leaving the starting line without being handed the baton. Okay, everyone get ready. Set. GO!" He shot a starting gun in the air and the riders were off.

Hazel shot by everyone, giving us a huge lead. (Leo was way behind, thankfully.) It wasn't long until Hazel was rounding the corner and making way behind Piper. She tossed the baton beautifully and Piper easily caught it and off she went. I stepped up to the starting line on Porkpie.

We still had a lead, but other campers were catching up. In fact, I saw Emma gaining on our tail. When Piper was already halfway around the track, Frank was finally taking off. Emma was only a couple yards behind us, and I saw many other campers on our tail, including my brother Malcolm.

Soon enough, Piper came flying in behind me, tossing the baton. I caught it in my hand and immediately sped off of the ground and into the air. I felt Kylie from the Demeter cabin on my tail and I urged Porkpie to speed up.

When I left the starting line, Jason still hadn't been passed the baton, but now an eery electric feeling tingled along my back. I knew it had to be Tempest. I took every turn and swerve swiftly, remembering skills Silena Beauregard had taught me years ago.

I took a sharp look over in Kylie's lane to find that I finally shook her off my tail, but unfortunately I felt Tempest and Jason catching up. Thank gods no other campers were right behind me.

As I rounded the corner nearing Reyna, I saw Jason slowly passing me up and panic buzzed in my eyes. I quickly threw the baton, possibly inaccurate but Reyna caught it anyway. As Reyna took off, Jason threw his baton, but it didn't last in the air long as it starting falling before reaching Percy's hand. Although Percy clearly reached as best as he could, their baton took a tumble to the ground.

Both of their faces were white with fear and regret. "No!" Percy shouted. Jason put both hands in his hair out of frustration. Leo put his face in his hands while Frank just stared at the baton with horror.

Meanwhile Reyna was already halfway around Camp, with no one on her tail. We might've been in trouble with Percy going at the same time as her, but now we don't have to worry about that.

"Lane 3 is disqualified!" Chiron announced from the sidelines.

All of the boys groaned.

I sat there smirking.

Percy turned to me. "We would've _so_ beaten y'all."

"Sure. Like _anyone_ can beat Reyna."

He rolled his eyes in reply.

Soon, Reyna came racing through the start/finish line in first place. Piper, Hazel, and I all hopped off our Pegasi cheering and ran over to Reyna for a group hug.

First challenge won.

As I arrived back to Cabin 3, I immediately flopped onto the bed face-down after pulling out my ponytail.

Percy soon after walked through the door and saw me sprawled across the bed.

"I hope you plan on sharing that bed."

I turned my face to the side to speak. "Sorry. Losers don't get nice, comfy places to sleep."

"Oh you've _gotta_ be kidding me."

I laughed. "Yeah. Don't worry, I'll let you sleep here tonight."

Although I couldn't see Percy's face, I could just sense the eye-roll.

"Even though," I continued. "You didn't do anything tonight."

He scoffed. "Okay that handoff was completely Grace's fault. If he just threw it a _little_ bit farther..."

"Whatever you say."

I glanced up and saw him heading towards his dresser, probably getting stuff to go take his nightly shower.

I finally got up from our bed, and headed over to desk to work some more on my Olympus project. Figured I should do at least _some_ of it today.

"Are you coming to the showers?" I heard Percy ask.

"Yeah, but not right now. I wanna work some more on my project first."

"Alright," was all he said, and I heard the door shut behind him.

Typing on my laptop, I noticed something moving out of the corner of eye. I instantly stopped what I was doing to investigate, not finding anything. I went back to my work, but I saw it again. This time when I looked over, I saw a _spider_ crawling next to my laptop.

I let out an involuntary sharp yelp and threw my hand over my mouth to stop anymore sounds from coming out. I stared at it horrifically, realizing I was gonna have to deal with this _disgusting monster_ myself. Aracne instantly came flying from my memories but I did my best to shove them to the side and lock them up for as long as I could. I would not have another breakdown like the other day.

I couldn't let Aracne have that control over me anymore.

Suddenly, I heard the door busting open. "What?! What's wrong?" Percy asked in a panicky tone.

I breathed out; I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. "Nothing, nothing. It's just a spider." I tried my best convincing voice. Yeah, I was terrified of spiders. But once you encounter Aracne, a simple spider like this one didn't seem so horrific. (It still kinda was, though.)

"I got it, I got it," Percy said hurriedly as he picked up one of his flip flops from the floor.

He walked over and I pointed at the abomination. He began lifting the flip flop, right before I stopped him.

He gave me a puzzled look. I took the flip flop from his hand.

"Wha-"

"You killed the spider last time," I said, remembering when Percy slew Aracne after we fell into Tartarus. No. No more thinking of those awful things. "It's my turn," I continued.

He gave me a worried look, as if he was afraid of me either breaking down again, or going psychotically mad.

I aimed the flip flop over the spider and slapped it to its death. I handed the flip flop back to Percy, heaving out a sigh of relief.

He gave me a proud look before kissing my cheek and leaving the Cabin, knowing there was nothing left to worry about myself.

I felt overwhelmed with satisfaction. I didn't need Percy's words to understand he felt pure pride for me overcoming another part of my fear.

That night, I slept peacefully again.

 **Tuesday : Archery**

I woke up with my arm laying lazily across Percy's bare stomach, with my cheek pressed on his chest. He lay flatly with one of his arms wrapped around my waist.

I wanted to sit there and take in this moment forever, but unfortunately, we actually had things to do today.

I reluctantly removed myself from the comfort of Percy's body and got dressed in my usual, casual attire. Today I decided for a messy bun rather than a messy ponytail (it's not like I had a choice if it was messy or not).

I looked over and saw that Percy was still sleeping (in a pretty awkward position now). If he didn't wake up in the next fifteen minutes, he'd likely be late for breakfast, which would put him in an awful mood for the rest of the day. So I decided to wake him up.

After shaking him for what felt to be a hundred times, he finally woke up.

"Wha-?" He asked groggily.

"Running a lil late," I explained.

"Noooo," he complained lazily, and leaned over to hug my legs as if telling me not to leave his bedside.

"Percy, c'mon."

He groaned again.

I started picking at his fingers, trying to release his hold of me. "Percy, really, you're gonna be late."

" _We're_ gonna be late," he corrected.

"Uh, _no_... Only you, babe. Now let go of me. I'm not gonna be late and miss my chance at getting chocolate chip pancakes. You know how I love those."

"Thought you weren't supposed to call me babe," he grumbled into my leg.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Get off of me."

He finally let go of me. I sighed in relief and starting turning to leave, but instead, he pulled me back pulled my face to his, kissing me passionately.

I pulled back. "Percy! Do you not remember what I said about-"

"I remember." He pulled me back to kiss me again.

I began leaning into the bed, slowly falling on top of him.

"Stop," I mumbled. But I actually really didn't want to stop.

He stopped. Damn it. I searched his eyes. His gloriously green eyes. The very set of eyes that made me melt under any circumstance, including this one

I couldn't help it. I pushed myself back onto his lips, falling completely on top so I was straddling him. Our kisses grew hotter and messier. His hand was tracing along my spine, sending tingles all over my body. I kept my hand holding his face while the other kept running all over his abdomen.

He peppered kisses in a trail from the corner of my lips and down to my neck where he began sucking. The damned spot drove me insane. I squeezed my eyes shut as he continued, and when he eventually started heading towards the crook of my neck, all the way to my chest. I ripped my shirt off for him.

His lips then moved down the tops of my breasts where my bra wasn't covering. I let a long moan escape my lips. Gods, I would never get used to this feeling.

We were making out at 8:00 in the morning. A non-stop pleasure. Our tongues followed in the steps of our mouths, sloppily kissing. Percy slowed down our kiss for one second just to tug at my bottom lip. I moaned longingly right before he connected our mouths once again.

It got even more heated (as if it could), and I decided that we had to stop at some point. Not only did we need to go get our breakfast, but he and I had never...you know... (though I'm sure everyone thought we did it on a daily). I knew that if we didn't stop soon, it'd lead to that, and that's not what I wanted right now, although I'd been wanting for a while. It just didn't feel like the right time.

I pulled back from our make out session and place my hand upon his chest, telling him to keep back.

I was still breathing really heavy, but managed a sentence. "We should really be getting to breakfast."

"Yeah," he breathed out, nodding his head in agreement.

This was not how I was expecting my morning to go.

Percy and I agreed to go back to our original agreement of no acting like a couple until night after Trials. I was afraid things between might be a little awkward because of how I stopped our predicament, but things were all the same. Thank gods.

So I sat with Piper, Hazel, and Reyna at the Aphrodite table. I unfortunately was too late to get my pancakes, so I settled for a yogurt parfait.

"How are you so late?" Piper asked me as I sat down.

"That idiot over there," I blatantly replied, pointing at Percy across the pavilion.

She laughed. "Should've known."

I rolled my eyes although I had a small smile peeking from my mouth.

"Wait," Hazel cut in. "I thought y'all were-" trying to keep things platonic for the week?

"Yeah. But..." I trailed off, not really knowing how to finish the sentence.

Everyone seemed to understand and stopped asking questions about it.

"Just a quick question- Are any of us actually good at archery?" Reyna asked.

"I'm okay..." Hazel replied.

"Same here," I said.

Piper snorted. "I _suck_."

Reyna's face displayed something between disappointment and confusion. "Well, I think we'll still do good. Maybe not the best, but..." she trailed off.

I started thinking about the boys team. "Well..." I began saying my thoughts out loud, "Frank's amazing- we all know that. But Percy absolutely _sucks_. Like worse than Piper."

"Thanks," Piper peeped in between my statements.

"Jason..." I continued. "Well I'm not sure. Piper?"

She looked at me and frowned. "I have no idea. I've never seen him use a bow and arrow."

Reyna cut in. "Actually, I have. He's fairly decent."

I sighed. "Okay... Well how about Leo?" Saying his name, I glanced over where I expected to see all four boys together, but Leo was missing from the group. My eyes scanned just a bit more and found him sitting with Emma. I got a little excited for both of my friends.

"Well," Hazel said, bringing me back to our conversation. "He's... alright. He definitely should never choose it in combat, but he's not the _worst_."

I nodded my head. "So it seems like we're pretty even."

At this point, I didn't care so much for beating other teams. I just wanted to crush the boys.

As I was finishing my breakfast, Chiron approached our table.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted kindly. "I need you all to visit me in my office after breakfast."

I glanced at the girls around me, asking a silent question of _Why_? They all just shrugged.

"Okay," I replied skeptically.

He smiled and walked away. I followed his direction with my eyes and saw him approach the boys.

Must be something with the Argo II Crew. (Plus Reyna).

When does this end?

All 8 of us stood in Chiron's office, waiting to be addressed with what he wanted to tell all of us.

"So," He began, "don't worry; There's not another prophecy you'll have to venture through."

Every one of us heaved out a large sigh of relief.

"But," he continued, "I want to inform you about something- You 8 are the most reliable demigods we have to take care of anything," He said the last part with pride.

"There's something fishy going on in Olympus," Chiron stated. "Mr. D was brought back to Olympus this morning because of the matters."

I looked around the others, seeing that they had the same confused look

"So... what's going on?" I asked quizzically.

He pursed his lips. "I'm afraid I am not fully informed of this situation. But..." He trailed off as he began digging through. his desk drawers.

I turned around and gave Percy a worried look. I could see he was reciprocating it.

The last thing we needed was another quest. Or just... _anything_ that involved saving the day.

"Aha," Chiron said as he finally found a notepad shoved to the back in one of his many drawers. He placed it on top of his desk, studying it slightly.

"These are my notes of what I've gathered," he explained. "Lord D was in the middle of an Iris message before being called to Olympus. I'm aware this was wrong of me, but I couldn't stop myself from trying to capture the worrisome facts I was initially overhearing." He scanned over his notes again, holding the notepad in his hands.

"Apparently, there's some sort of threat going around of... _Kronos_." He said _Kronos_ in a deadly tone.

I closed my eyes, deeply. Why Kronos? Percy and I defeated him. My eyebrows scrunched together in denial as I grabbed Percy's hand from behind me. Kronos was the cause of many of our friends' deaths- Including Luke Castellan... Charles Beckendorf... Silena Beauregard... And countless others.

The 6 other demigods in the room definitely held pressed looks, but not as grim as mine and Percy's and I guess Chiron noticed.

"I know," Chiron said grimly, looking at Percy and me. The other demigods seemed confused, but no one wanted to go into detail.

"And," Chiron continued. "There have been vague sightings of the Kronos Curse." **(A/N: the Kronos Curse isn't a real thing, I made it up lmao but anyways)**

I felt the blood from my face drain.

"The what?" Leo asked.

"Yeah... I've never heard of that," Jason put in.

"It's ancient," I spoke up. "An ancient curse that sets the world on a time loop. The earth has supposedly experienced it many times, long ago, but there's not many records of it. There's nothing said on how to stop it. But the only people actually aware of the loop are those who saw the curse, and were hit with it afterwards. For example, a scythe, Kronos' symbol, could be engraved on something, and should start glowing. You could be hit with the curse or not, but no one's really sure," I explained.

Everyone looked around with even more worry.

"Precisely," said Chiron. "This could be a very serious matter, or nothing at all. But I though all of you had the right to know of this; I would also inform Nico but he's unfortunately not here. Again, I am not sure of what's happening in Olympus, but we should all be cautious. You are not to spread word of this- we don't need a camp-wide panic."

We all nodded shallowly.

"You all may leave."

We shuffled out his office in one big group. My hand was still laced with Percy's; I hadn't noticed how hard I was squeezing it until now.

"So... We're just supposed to make sure we don't run into any glowing scythes?" Percy asked.

"I guess."

Hazel looked nervous, and then she spoke. "So, there's no way to prevent this? Why is it spreading?"

"Yeah, and how do you know if you go hit with the curse? Is it a tingly feeling?" Leo asked.

I was used to being hammered with questions, but now that I didn't have all the answers, I felt useless and confused.

"I don't know," I replied, to all of them. "Just... be on the lookout I suppose. Remember, we may have nothing to worry about it."

Everyone nodded and dispersed, leaving me with my hand still glued to Percy's. He turned and faced me.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just... unexpected news."

"I know. Kronos Curse? Why haven't I ever heard of this?"

"Everyone thought it was gone for good, therefore leaving it unnecessary, I guess."

His expression was grim, and I could tell he was just as unhappy about this as me.

"Alright, well, I'll see you later, Wise Girl." he smiled his warm smile before letting go of my hand and walking away, most likely towards the sword arena.

I turned on my heel to spend the rest of my morning at the beach. Relaxation sounded really nice.

Finally it was night. We had all finished our dinner and were gathered at the archery range. I was still excited for competition as always, but my mood had been dampened by the earlier news of today. I wasn't feeling my A-game.

Reyna, Hazel, and Piper all seemed pretty unbothered though, like the news passed right through them. I understood that Kronos didn't have the same impact to them as it did me, but I expected them to be a least a little shaken up. Maybe I was just being paranoid?

This time around, Chiron chose our line up: Alphabetical order, leaving me first up. Next was Hazel, Piper, and then Reyna.

"Okay, campers!" Chiron addressed. "Let's see your archery skills!" He spread his arms in an exciting manner, asking for some noise. So, naturally, all of Camp Half-Blood shook with the happy screams of demigods.

"Demigods, please step up."

I grabbed my bow and arrow and stepped up to our lane of targets. The targets were scattered across the field, giving me a range of different heights and distances.

Looking down to my right a couple lanes down, I noticed Frank. _Great_. The guy would be done by the time I get one arrow in the air.

Unfortunately, being placed so far from the boys, there was no side-banter for us to take part in. Right next to us was a bunch of Nike kids- the most annoying ones to argue with. And the other side? Emma with all her best friends- not exactly the prime arguing team.

"Ready," Chiron announced, breaking my train of thought. "Go!"

I scrambled for the arrow in my quiver and nocked it. I aimed as precisely as I could and released. It hit the first target, but in one of the middle rings.

"Woo!" My team hollered.

4 more targets.

I aimed for my target. Hit that one in the same place. I was on a decent roll until I shot my fourth arrow, and it completely skimmed the target, not setting any points. I groaned in annoyance.

"It's okay, Annabeth! You got this!" Piper encouraged.

I had enough arrows to take the shot again. I did, landing it, but on one of the outer rings. My last shot was my closest to the bullseye, but still not on it. Setting down my bow and quiver, I noticed I wasn't the last camper to finish (Thank _gods_.)

The next set of campers came up to the front of their lane, which included Hazel for us and Jason for the boys.

That round was much more energetic, due to Connor and Travis Stoll. The girls and I cheered for Hazel as she took her turn. She and Jason ended up with what seemed to be a pretty equal score, though I wasn't positive.

Next up was Piper and Leo. And unfortunately another Stoll brother. I was trying to eye other team's scores but didn't come up with much except that the team full of Apollo kids (and one Aphrodite) had an insanely high score. Of course.

Piper was doing... decent. Though Leo wasn't much better. She had to retake multiple shots, but she always _eventually_ got the target. Piper was on her fourth target (so was Leo).

"You got this!" I encouraged. Reyna and Hazel whooped and clapped their hands.

I glanced around, and saw that Piper and Leo were actually the only ones left. Leo was now on his fifth target.

Piper very carefully pulled her arrow back. I could tell she was very concentrated. I noticed her heave out a deep breath, readying herself for releasing her shot.

A sudden cry of alarm escaped from the daughter of Aphrodite. It was a piercing, sharp yelp. Her arrow went flying, but it was a pointless shot bc her bow had been jerked to the side. That very bow was now on the grow as Piper pointed towards the woods that were just a little bit back behind this archery range.

"Piper?!" I rushed my place to her and grabbed onto her shoulders.

"S-sorry," she stammered. "Did _no one_ see that?" Her eyes were bewildered.

"What? See what?"

Soon Jason was by my side. "Piper, what was it?"

Everyone was staring.

Chiron came over as well. "How about we get you, dear, to the Big House. And um, you too Ms. Chase." He spoke as if he were unsure of himself.

Chiron regarded everyone else saying, "You may all carry on. The satyrs are keeping score."

The white-stallion centaur left with Piper. I looked around and caught Percy's eye, giving him a worried glance.

Could this have anything to do with the Kronos Curse?

I shoved the thought from my mind as I headed towards the Big House.

 **(A/N: More Percabeth is promised soon! This story has an actual plot to it, so I'm just trying to build to that :) )**


	3. Chapter Three

**(A/N: Thank you for all of your thoughts on my story- it helps me write better. Although, I do wish to point out that some things you may be critizing have already been addressed in my previous Author Notes. Please read them.**

 **Also, I addressed that this story seems very wobbly and.. well not very good at the moment. The end of this chapter and everything after, I intend to be _much_ better. I'm aware I added a lot of unnecessary things, but that's how I chose to wrote it anyways. **

**Enjoy! :) )**

I sat in the living room of the Big House along with Piper and Chiron.

"Okay, Piper," Chiron said. "Please explain to us what you saw."

I kept my hand on her shoulder for support.

Piper looked down and scrunched her eyebrows together. "I... I'm not sure what it was. It was a large, dark figure. It was gory, too. When I was pulling back my arrow, I caught it out of the corner of my eye, and once I turned my full attention to it, it sped towards me and then vanished."

I looked at Chiron with worried eyes. Is Piper okay?

After a moment of silence, Piper continued. "Seriously, how'd you guys not see it?"

"I..." My eyebrows scrunched and my lips pressed together in thought. I remembered that that exact look is the one Percy described as my _I'm-thinking-of-something_ look. "What do mean by _gory_?" I asked Piper, searching for a more specific description.

"Like... The body seemed disfigured, cut up maybe? It was very bloody. But it was very unidentifiable."

I hummed in thought. Then it clicked.

I breathed in. "Cut up? Bloody?"

She nodded.

"What are you on to, Annabeth?" Chiron asked.

I really didn't want to say it, but I had to. "What if... It was _Kronos_." They exchanged weird looks.

"Think about it," I continued. "This whole Kronos Curse thing is going around. And he appeared gory but not necessarily identifiable- Could easily be because of his previous form before the Battle of Manhattan. Plus we all know he's been in Tartarus- that place doesn't exactly do kind things to you. We also know that he has the ability to manipulate in his own ways. He could've just been in Piper's head."

Silence.

"But why _my_ head?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I know this is far-fetched but what else makes sense?"

Chiron sighed heavily. "I suppose for now that's what we'll be going with. And we'll just tell the rest of the campers that Piper was having some sort of... light psychotic break."

Piper shrugged her shoulders unbothered.

"And please remember to only keep this within your little circle, eh?" Chiron added.

We both nodded.

Turns out neither the boys or my team won Archery- The team full of Apollo kids won. Shocker.

I lay in bed that night with a million thoughts running through my mind. My head was nestled into the crook of Percy's neck as his arm was around me, holding me against him.

I had told him the conversation in the Big House from earlier; His reaction was just about the same as their's.

But now we were both lying in bed on the verge of sleep. So I thought.

"Hey, Annabeth?"

"Hmm?"

"I just want you to know... I am so beating you tomorrow during rock climbing."

I looked up at him wide-eyed. His mischievous smirk was tugging at his lips. "Oh really?"

His eyes danced with mine. "Oh yeah."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

He grunted. "Well, I _know_ that we're gonna beat you, so."

"Alrighty, Seaweed Brain." And _I_ knew that _we_ were gonna beat _them_. But I didn't say it.

He kissed the top of my head. "Will you still love me after we crush you?"

I laughed. "Sure."

"Yay!" he said with a hushed voice.

It was pretty bold of him to think that _he_ could beat _me_. (Only thing he's better at is sword-fighting, and he knew it. Or he would eventually.)

 **Wednesday : Rock Climbing**

After breakfast the next morning, Reyna agreed to practice sparring with me (both Hazel and Piper were busy practicing rock climbing). I knew I might've been rusty in combat, and considering that the sparring competitions were tomorrow, I wanted some extra practice. Besides, I was already completely confident in my climbing skills.

I had grown to be an expert in fighting with a dagger, but only a newcomer to the idea of fighting with one each hand. I chose to use the latter today anyway.

Reyna had her usual cavalry sword with her hair braided elegantly down her back. We both agreed to end the spar once the one of us was disarmed (we were also allowing to use other parts of our body).

"Ready?" I asked.

"Always am," she replied confidently.

A smirk played across my face as I readied into position.

Reyna lunged towards me, swinging her sword in an arc. I blocked with my left dagger and ducked. She parried into another strike but I continued blocking, playing defense; Playing offense using daggers wasn't exactly easy, or sensical.

I came close to knocking Reyna's sword from her grip, but failed. I continued blocking each strike and side-stepping. As one of her swings came in diagonal, I dodged and kicked her in the gut, setting her back. I bent down to sweep my leg, hopefully resulting in her collapse, but she easily jumped away. Her next move came down on me and I saw a chance- I crossed my arms in an X for a block and pushed out, twisting her sword right out of her hand.

I got excited for a second, until the daughter of Bellona caught her weapon before it could clang onto the hard ground.

She raised her eyebrows at me.

I gave her a look that said _I'm impressed_.

We continued on with our usual strikes until I decided to change it up a bit. As she struck her sword at me with a vicious point, I stepped aside and grabbed onto her opposite shoulder. I climbed onto her back with a bold leap and twisted myself. (I'd seen this move multiple times in marvel movies from Black Widow.)

I was in the process of taking Reyna down when I noticed two figures enter the arena, losing my focus. I stumbled off her back and onto the ground. She saw her chance, and struck down onto me, but I blocked. We stayed there, with her on top of me, trying vigorously to disarm me.

The familiar voice of my annoying boyfriend sounded from the entrance. "Woo!" he cheered, though I wasn't sure for who. Ugh, he was distracting me.

"Shut up, Percy!" I called.

"Shut up, Percy," he mocked. That boy was so going to get it.

I tried my best to keep focused. Reyna and I both surged with more power at the same time, resulting in the both of us being disarmed. At the same time.

I got up in a huff, making my way to Percy.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, annoyed.

"To practice," he said with his annoying twinge of sarcasm as he gestured to Jason next to him.

"But... Now that we're here..." he trailed off.

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

"I think _we_ should have at it."

"Oh you're so on, _Kelp Face_."

 _"Owl Head_."

Another round of sparring? Sure. I went with my daggers again, hopefully having an advantage over Percy since he's never fought me with two daggers.

I noticed Reyna and Jason strapping on armor together- I guess they decided that they'd spar, since Percy practically ditched Jason.

We readied into position.

"You sure about this?" I asked.

"Oh yeah."

I lunged, slicing at Riptide. Percy easily dodged and thrust his 3-foot-long sword at my gut. I side stepped and continued blocking and dodging as Percy kept striking again and again. I noticed that my twin daggers threw him off slightly, but still not enough.

As he came at me from an angle, I ducked, then quickly grabbed his arm and pushed him against the nearest wall, which was luckily just a couple feet away.

"Hey!" he protested. "That's not fair!"

"What do you mean?" I asked sincerely, using my dumb-blond voice. Although I knew exactly what he meant. I leaned in close, pressing our bodies together.

He swallowed. "Pushing me against a _wall_ isn't fair. We're supposed to be _sparring_!"

I smiled and bit my lip as I looked up at him. "Are we?" Keep in mind that I never let go of my daggers- If I let go, I'd lose.

Percy squinted his eyes at me. "What are you trying to do here?"

"You know." I pressed even closer to him. My nose was almost touching his and our heavy breathing mixed. My hands were by his sides- Still holding my daggers. Our eyes locked. "I've missed you."

Percy's chest was heaving up and down- Whether it was from sparring or just me, I wasn't sure. A small grunt escaped his mouth as he dropped his sword to hold my face. He crashed his lips onto mine.

I won.

I let him believe this little scam for just a few more seconds, then I abruptly pulled away.

"I win!" I exclaimed with a huge grin spread across my face.

Percy's eyebrows knit in confusion. He looked down at Riptide and at the two daggers still in my hands.

"I- But you- Wait!"

"Ha!"

"That's so unfair!"

"I don't think so. You were disarmed. I was not. Plain and simple."

"I am so getting you back for this."

I laughed. "Good luck, Seaweed Brain."

A slight smile tugged at his lips before grabbing Riptide and leaving the arena.

That was way too easy.

I stood with my team before the Lava Rock Wall ( **A/N: I don't remember the formal name they had for it lol).**

I was still rattled with confidence; I'd conquered this thing multiple times. If I _didn't_ win, I'd lock myself up in the cabin for weeks out of embarrassment and shame, not daring to speak to a soul for at _least_ a month. So, in other words, I was quite determined to annihilate all of my opponents.

I wasn't very aware of how good my teammates were at rock climbing- specifically rock climbing with lava flowing everywhere. I could only hope for the best.

"Alrighty, campers!" Chiron announced. "I see you're all excited for this one!"

I looked around and saw everyone buzzing with energy. Across the way, the boys were standing around all smugly. Oh gods, they were about to be disappointed.

"The goal here is to grab _that_ flag first!" Chiron continued, and pointed to a bright orange flag at the top of the wall.

"Whichever team has grabbed the most flags wins. Only four rounds to prove yourselves! One person per team goes at a time. Good luck! Once I blow this horn you may all start!" And he blew the horn.

Piper was first, and with her smaller frame, she was able to move quicker. She was doing really well, until one of her feet slipped. She was going so fast that her mind didn't give her time to process that she didn't have a hold, so when she let go to grab another ledge, she began falling down. Hard.

"Ooooh!" the crowd said in unison as Piper hit the ground.

"Piper!" I raced over to her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" she announced. Though, the way she hesitantly sat up with a grimace laid on her face, I had to disagree.

I looked across the way and noticed Jason resisting the urge to run to Piper's side, but I guess he figured it'd be pushing it since we're competitors as of right now. And Piper wasn't dying.

Frank was going for the boys right now, but he was surprisingly behind. Thank gods.

By the end of the round, a Demeter kid had managed to reach the flag before everyone else.

A satyr came by to whisk away Piper, tending to her wounds.

I was still determined, especially since it was now Hazel's turn. I had a feeling in my gut that she knew exactly what she was doing.

When the horn blew again, Hazel sprinted up the wall, wasting no time. Her scampering up the wall was so swift, it left me truly impressed. She was neck and neck with Emma (I had no idea she could climb like that).

Jason was doing well, but he was nothing compared to Hazel. Her smaller figure reached the top of the wall, and with a final leap, she snatched the flag from its standings and held it up for all to see.

Reyna, Piper, and I all whooped loudly.

"Yeah, Hazel!!" I screamed.

Reyna was pumping her fist and Piper continued screaming randomly. (She also had ice on her thigh and ankle)

Even Frank was cheering. (They're so cute.)

Next up was Reyna. And also Leo.

"I just want to point out right now," she said to me. "I'm not a good rock climber. So you might want to prepare for embarrassment."

"Okay," I replied with a small chuckle. Reyna? Not good at something? That sure is a first.

And boy was Reyna right. As far as I knew, the daughter of Bellona could achieve anything and everything- That was one of things I admired most about her. But rock climbing? Total _nope_. She wasn't last though, thankfully.

On another note- Who knew Valdez could rock climb? I had a feeling that he spent more time with Emma here than he let on. I watched in horror as the scrawny son of Hephaestus snagged the flag right from its place.

"What the Hades?!" Piper exclaimed.

Leo smirked down at her.

My shock still hadn't subsided once it was my time to rock climb- the last round. If we got this flag, we won. If the boys got it, they won. My determination was through the roof; It heightened once the realization hit me that I was going against _Percy_.

If I let that Barnacle Head (who I unfortunately love with all my heart) beat me, I would never hear the end of it.

At this very moment, I regretted every second I spent mentoring Percy during past summers for climbing. I wanted to bang my head against the wall.

But when Chiron blew the horn, my regret switched into pure intent on only one thing- _Winning_.

I leaped onto wall, easily finding ledges for my slim hands and feet. I climbed around the lava, using my flexible body to make larger steps and swift dodges. I could hear the cheering of all the campers below, increasing my adrenaline.

I began to near the top of the wall and my need for that flag suddenly became _essential_. I took one long stride before popping my head above the final ledge. 8 feet away stood the flag.

My heartbeat sped up at least 90% when I saw Percy right in front of me on the other side of the wall. We both froze for half a second before regathering our priorities.

"No!" I involuntarily screamed when he launched from his grip the same time I did. I pushed passed him but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back. Was that even allowed?

That flag was literally right in front of me. How was this so difficult? As Percy made his move towards it, I jumped onto his back.

"Hey!" he protested.

From down below, the crowd's cheering grew to at least ten more notches.

I kicked the back of his knees, and watched proudly as he crumpled to the ground.

"Ha, Perseus!" I untangled myself from his body and ran towards the flag. "Kiss my a-"

I was rudely interrupted when Percy dragged me by my ankle. I fell right on my face. That son of a bitch.

Anger and desperation flooded throughout my veins. As he continued his way to our prize, I took a final lunge, attaching myself onto his waist and pulling him down with me.

"Oof!" he grunted. I couldn't help but smirk.

I twisted myself out from under him but I kept a foot planted on his back, preventing movement.

I leaned down toward the flag. The muscles in my arm were straining as I stretched much farther than an arm should. But alas, I held possession of the prize!

I held it up, with my foot still mashing my boyfriend. I decided to be a little considerate, and removed my foot from his back. He stood up, glaring daggers at me. I only smiled back- That annoying _Don't-mess-with-me smile_.

Yet another win for me and the girls. 2-0.

 **Thursday : Sparring**

Thursday was, long story short, tiring. And quite frankly, disappointing.

My team endured a long fight during tonight's challenge, but were overcome with defeat, eventually leading to the victory of the boys.

Now our score was 2-1; We were still in the lead but if they won tomorrow's challenge- it'd be a tie between us. I wouldn't allow that.

As I snuggled under the covers of our bed, Percy finally came back from the showers.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Finally decided to come back?" I asked teasingly.

"Actually, Chiron held me back."

"What?" Curiosity filled my brain.

"Yeah. He actually specifically told me to tell you about it right away."

I sat up in the bed. "Well get on with it then."

Percy sat down beside me. "Remember that incident with Piper on Tuesday? The same thing happened to a camper named Chloe after sparring tonight. She's also a daughter of Aphrodite."

I looked down at my hands, letting my mind fall into thought. Another daughter of Aphrodite? That can't be a coincidence. And what did Kronos- or whoever it was- want with them? Or just the camp in general?

"You've got your _I'm-thinking-of-something_ face on," Percy pointed out.

I ignored his comment and continued letting my gears churn.

"It has to be Kronos," I said. "It has to be."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I mean, what else? And most likely, if he's trying to find another host body like he'd done before, it would make sense for him to go after Aphrodite children. _Charmspeak_."

Percy didn't say anything, just stared off into space, clearly in his own world of thought. I could tell he was thinking of the Battle of Manhattan. I wanted to tell him it was gonna be okay, but things aren't and most likely won't be. And he knew that.

 **Friday : Capture the Flag**

I sat on the edge of my actual bed in Cabin 6 with Reyna, Piper, and Hazel surrounding me. I haven't been in here in forever.

We were discussing our plans for Capture the Flag. Dinner began in fifteen minutes, so we had to start wrapping it up.

The basic outline of our plan was we would branch out. The idea was to confuse other campers by stumbling around in desperation- They would think we lost our way and our group fell apart terribly. If they find out we didn't actually lose our team, we result to plan B: knock 'em out. Then we each search for the flag on our own, which is okay since we could all hold our own perfectly fine.

Once one of us caught the flag, we would still wonder through the woods nonchalantly, hiding the prize in our shirt or whatever. Whoever catches the flag, although seeming to be lost, will actually be searching for the rest of the group (you have to come out of the woods as a whole group or your victory doesn't count).

"I think the plan will work perfectly," Hazel commented.

Reyna nodded. "Let's just hope none of us get into actual trouble. That'd be bad."

"We won't," I reassured. "Every one of us has proven we can hold our own by ourselves. _But_ , all of you _have_ to act lost, but not _too lost_. Everyone suspects elaborate plans from me, so they'd know immediately that something was up."

Everyone nodded.

So it was settled.

After dinner, the whole camp raced to their respected cabins to grab their personal weapons and armor.

Now, we were all lined up before Chiron, in front of the forest.

"Okay, demigods! Last challenge tonight. You all know the rules," he announced. "Everyone get situated. We will begin shortly." He galloped away to speak to some satyrs- Probably checking to make sure everything is set correctly.

I turned to my team. "Y'all ready?"

"Born ready," Piper said with a look of determination. Reyna and Hazel nodded, mirroring Piper's expression.

Next to us, the boys were whispering vigorously. Their tone implied arguing. And a lot of it. _Boys_.

Chiron trotted back to his original spot and cleared his throat. "I hope you all are ready! You are all released in 3... 2..."

We all waited anxiously for our director to say the word.

"1!"

And we were off, all speeding into the woods in hopes of victory. Groups flanked, some huddled, but we were the only one to completely disband.

I continued jogging through the jumble of trees lonesomely. I have to admit, it was odd being alone during Capture the Flag, but I forged on, hoping the rest of my team was doing well.

I finally stopped my short journey after I knew I was set deep in the forest. By now, I had the entire place mapped in my head from all my years at camp- But I wasn't the only one: The Stoll brothers, Clarisse, _Percy_. I decided that although the others had been here just as long as me if not longer, Percy was still my biggest threat.

I quickly recognized my surroundings. Now, I had to choose where to go from here. I began a trail to my left, searching for anything and everything. That's when I heard a bunch of footsteps coming from the other side of me.

 _Oh gods_ , I thought. Now was the time to play dumb-blonde. _Just act natural, Annabeth. Lost_.

I quickly asked myself, _What would my face look like if I was separated from my group?_

I decided that I'd probably have some scowl to my expression. A determined, hard look. So that's what I put on, ready to face whoever would be approaching.

Pretending to be searching aimlessly, I notice the figures emerge from the almost-total-blackness.

The Stolls.

"Annabeth?" Connor called out.

I acted surprised. I'm not sure how anyone could be buying this, but they seemed to.

"Huh? Oh!" I said.

"...What are you doing?" Travis asked skeptically.

"I lost my group," I said with despair. I face-palmed lightly, to show my disappointment.

The brothers glanced at each with pure confusion.

"Is this part of some sort of evil plan?" Connor asked.

I opened my eyes as if I was taken-aback. "What?! No! I _actually_ lost my team. I'm just retracing my steps."

"I'm not buying it," Travis whispered to his brother. I rolled my eyes in my head.

The Stolls would be one of the hardest to convince. They _know_ me. They know I always have some genius plan. Everyone expects it, which can sometimes make it hard to actually execute the plan.

"Wait..." Connor said half to himself and half to Travis. "If she was _actually_ lost, wouldn't she be trying to hide _that_? There's something fishy goin' on here..."

 _Fuck_.

Time to resort to plan B.

I swiftly lunged at Connor. I grabbed him by the shoulders, using him as leverage to kick Travis in the gut. I spun around knocked Connor off his feet. I took no time stealing his rope. I reached for Travis, grabbing his arm and twisting it in an inhumane way. He screeched in pain (wimp, I didn't break it). I proceeded to judo-flip him, landing him right next to his winded brother.

I pushed them against the nearest tree and tied them to it using their own rope. Evil? Maybe. Cruel? Definitely. I also made sure they couldn't reach the knot.

"Sorry, guys," I said, shrugging and walking away.

They just groaned in response.

I continued on. Sometimes ducking behind bushes so a passing team wouldn't see me, or picking up supplies other groups had dropped.

I wish I could know how my teammates were doing. What if one of them already found the flag and were venturing around, scouring for one of the others? Now would be a great time to have a source of communication, but alas, there was none. I pushed the thoughts from my mind.

I came across a clearing- a small one, but still a clearing. I didn't remember ever seeing this before...

I noticed an odd carving on one of the trees. I squinted, trying to see clearer. It appeared to be... an L? Well that doesn't make sense. But since it was so dark, I couldn't see any better.

I backed up from the tree.

And I immediately regretted it. I ran into another a boy. Instantly, I whipped around and drew my dagger. Then I realized it was only Percy. Wait... It was Percy!

I immediately had him in a headlock.

"Where's the rest of you?" I demanded. This could be a trap.

"Wha-? No-" He choked out. I realized he couldn't speak and weakened my grip. I judo-flipped him to the ground. (Two judo-flips in one day? Score!). I held my forearm to his throat threateningly.

"They're not with me!" he exclaimed.

I squinted skeptically, daring to deepen my press on his throat.

"I swear!" he said frantically with a slight edge of panic. "Will you please get off of me?!"

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"When am I ever to trick _you_?"

I loosened my press and my gaze.

He sighed in relief. I got up and offered my hand. He took it.

"Have you ever seen this part of the forest?" I asked.

Dusting himself off he said, "No. It seems... off. I don't know, it just gives me a weird feeling."

His instincts were always spot-on; I had the same exact feeling.

Suddenly, all of my thoughts of the competition left my mind. "I-I was checking out the carving on that tree over there before we bumped into each other." I pointed in the direction.

We both walked towards it in curiosity.

"I can't tell what it is," I said.

Percy reached in his pocket and uncappped Riptide. The faint glow of his sword provided light to see the carving correctly.

I studied it, running my fingers along it, but came to realize what it was.

The blood in my face drained.

"What? What is it, Annabeth?"

"It's... It's a scythe."

 _The Kronos Curse._

I retracted my finger from the bark. We both backed away.

"Isn't that- that thing where time loops n stuff? That thing you were talking about the other day?" Percy asked.

I gulped, then nodded. He could see the fear panned across my face.

"Well, how do- we can just go back to Camp and tell Chiron right? I mean-"

I shook my head slowly. "There- There's something here. Now."

I tensed at the snap of a brach off to my right. I grabbed Percy's wrist for reassurance of his presence. I kept my dagger ready.

"Annabeth, I don't see anythi-"

And before he could finish his sentence, a crimson red glow appeared where the scythe carving was.

"No, no, no..." I muttered.

More glows appeared, all on other trees, surrounding us. This was bad. _Very_ bad.

"Run," I said, but it came out so small, I doubted Percy could hear.

I began backing away quicker and soon my steps grew faster, all while dragging Percy with me.

"Run!" I shouted. "Percy, run!"


End file.
